Ephrata was the smallest town to be served by Great Northern's streamlined passenger trains through the mid-20th century.

[5] After Amtrak took over the national passenger rail network in 1971, the Western Star was eliminated and the Empire Builder stopped serving Ephrata.

[6] The loss of passenger rail service also affected postal deliveries to Ephrata, which were switched from trains to trucks.

[9] The Ephrata stop served few passengers and was slated for closure as part of cuts in 1977,[10] but was kept as an unstaffed station.

[13][14] The existing Amtrak station was renovated and expanded to include a new multimodal transportation center and office space for the local chamber of commerce, re-opening on November 7, 1994.